Nico Eckstein
I am an aspiring architect, pursuing a Bachelors of Science in Architecture at Tulane University. This portfolio contains a selection of architectural projects from my undergraduate education, in addition to personal and professional projects that showcase my passion for the visual arts.
Architecture Student/Designer
Nico Eckstein
02 - 07 Crescent Commons
Densifying higher ground with co-housing communities 08 - 13 Sacred Geometry
Designing modular community space in barcelona
14 - 17 Bonnet Carre Spillway Visitor Center
A levee-top visitor center pays homage to the power of the Mississippi 18 - 21 Assorted Film Photographs 22 - 25 Assorted Hand Drawings
Horizontal House - Plan, Perspective, Section
Combination Study of Vertical Houses
Crescent Commons
Designing intergenerational housing for urban resilience
In this studio, we explored the need to densify our spaces for human inhabitation. We began by designing compact homes in vertical, horizontal, and sectional formats. We then combined units to create shared spaces where an intentional community could thrive.
Vertical House - Section
Each iteration was analyzed using the Ladybug plugin to Grasshopper to determine thermodynamic efficiency in all seasons. The resulting design scheme contains communal spaces on rooftops that receive the most solar radiation in cooler months, and communal spaces in shaded wells that receive minimal solar radiation in warmer months.
Roof Perspective - Winter Communal Spaces
Courtyard Perspective - Summer Communal Spaces
Sacred Geometry
A Modular Community Space of Hyperbolic Paraboloids
Perspective view of greenhouse modules - generated with Stable Diffusion using ComfyUI
This deconstruction diagram exhibits our exploration of the ruled surfaces and arches that form the main sanctuary of Saint Mary of the Assumption.
Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption by Pietro Belluschi and Pier-Luigi Nervi
Starting with the geometric precedent of The Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption in San Francisco, we were challenged to modulate the forms to create adaptable community spaces in the Selva De Mar neighborhood of Barcelona.
Divisions qualified for a sunny garden.
Divisions qualified for a module.
Divisions qualified for a shaded garden.
The lot was divided into a grid of triangles that were assigned a sunny garden, module, or shaded garden depending on the solar radiation they receive.
Grasshopper Ladybug analysis for solar radiation.
Diagrammatic Elevation.
Bonnet Carre Spillway Visitor Center
The effect of flowing water ARCH2021 Fall 2023
The Bonnet Carre Spillway is an essential feat of engineering that is called upon just a few times per decade to protect New Orleans. In designing a visitor center, I sought to ingrain the rare condition of an open spillway - the flow of water through rigid floodgateswithin the organization of the building. In this way, the drama of an operational spillway can be experienced whenever the center is visited.
The visitor begins at ground level on the landward side of the levee. When moving through exhibits, they float up to a vantage point at the crest of the levee where the floodgates and spillway can be seen in their entirety, giving context to the exhibits they have seen previously.
Section perpendicular to the levee shows bottom-to-top promenade experience.
Water flows through the spillway as the floodgates are opened.
Assorted Film Photographs
I fell in love with film photography as a way to enhance my appreciation of my surroundings. The limited nature of a roll of film forces me to be more intentional about my choices. I have found that by photographing atypical moments in the urban landscape, I have developed a deeper understanding of how we visually experience man-made spaces.
Atlanta, GA
Elmsford, NY
Montauk, NY
San Diego,
New Orleans, LA
Port Chester, NY
Diego, CA
Rye, NY
Assorted Film Photographs
Hastings-on-Hudson, NY
Santa Rosa Beach, FL
Pittstown, NJ
Assorted Hand Drawings
Union Square, NY Harlem, NY
Madrid, Spain
While I use photography to capture the experience of a space, I use sketches to examine the details of a building. By scrutinizing the way in which the elements of a building fit together, I extract valuable lessons to make my own projects more cohesive.
Hanover, NH
These spreads from my sketchbook are studies of the urban condition of New Orleans, analyzed through the lens of Kevin Lynch’s ‘The Image of the City.’
Nico Eckstein Architecture Student/Designer